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In Australia, scarring was practised widely, but is now restricted almost entirely to parts of Arnhem Land. Scarring is like a language inscribed on the body, where each deliberately placed scar tells a story of pain, endurance, identity, status, beauty, courage, sorrow or grief.

In the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, self-decoration is associated with festivals and ceremonies where people reinforce their identity as members of a group or clan. One of the most important occasions for ceremonial display is the Mount Hagen Festival.

Chinese folklore attributes the origins of footbinding to a fox who tried to conceal its paws while assuming the human guise of the Shang Empress. Another version suggests that the Empress had a club foot and insisted that all women bind their feet so that hers became the model for beauty.

The shaping of the waist, through belting, corseting, girdling or hiding its natural curve, has long held universal interest. What is considered an acceptable shape for the torso is intimately tied up with cultural aesthetics, discipline and social status.

Henna is a dye made from a flowering plant, Lawsonia inermis, to dye skin, hair and fingernails. It has been used for thousands of years across many cultures as an important part of ceremonys and rituals.

Many Aboriginal communities have been painting their bodies for thousands of years. For these communities, body painting is not necessarily just about visual artistic creativity, it relates to conventions, laws and religion.

The Australian Museum respects and acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as the First Peoples and Traditional Custodians of the land and waterways on which the Museum stands.
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We acknowledge Elders past, present and emerging.This website may contain names, images and voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.